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Show --~--- .. . . Center . 200 . North elementary & gr amma7 1 a · t Prlmary, Schoo s . Lehi Utah County 1I I I Im.~jignill~11 3 9222 00575 9217 - I I j' ==~ , ~~ Thb 1950 photo _ . take' from .top the Dalley BuDdi.g 0. Mal. _!net. The buildi.g 0. the left was the Grammar School. The small building in the center was a heating plant, and the building to the right of it was the Primary School. The tall building to the extreme right is the Lebi Tabernacle. Early schools .were scene of IIluch Lehi learning ,By mCHARD VAN WAGONER When the Sego Lily School was completed in 1897 it was anticipated that suflicient classroom space would exist in Lehi for many years to come. By 1905, however, plans were approved for another elementary school. Trustees purchased property on I the lOuthwest corner of Center at Second North. Sherwin Allred has an old railroad map, given to him by his father, which showe that ,this · property once belonged to the noterioue Porter Rockwell, famed Mormon lawman. ' , , By May 1905 teams .were hauling rock for the foundation of the new school. The large eight-<:lass. room Primary School, fronting to I the east on Center Street, was dedicated on Jan. 27, 1906. Simon P. Eggertsen, a long-time Lehi educator, gave the dedicatory prayer. The $20,000 building, which furnished facilities for 400 children, provided many firsts for Lehi " schools: indoor plumbing, central heating and landscaped grounds. Children were required to wait out" side the school until 9a.m.,atwhich , time they marched (in somewhat orderly fashion) into the building to a lively piano accompaniment. During the Bummer of 1910 the Lehi School District erected another elementary school building on the northwest quadrant of Block 49, just west of the Primary School. In ·1879 this area had been the city ~tray pound -- where stray aniI male were corralled by the pound I keeper until owners either paid i ~ppropriate fines or the strays were : IOld for damages. ;~n 1893 the estray pound was I I I , Lehi Yesteryears moved elsewhere and a city jail was constructed on the site. This Second North jail was the site of several colorful scenes. The Jan. 18, 1899, "Lehi Banner" re: , ported that "as a result oftoQ much booze, Chase Featherstone, local contractor, tried to singa number of hoboes to sleep in the city jail on Friday night. It cost him $1.50'On another occasion local brickmakerNephi Slater, filled with Christmas cheer, "went on the war path," was arrested by Marshal Newburn Butt, and locked up for the night. He set fire to his bedding and would likely have died in the flames had not two "jailed tramps· put out the fire. In addition to the jail, a small building was built on thelotin 1895 tohousetheLehiSilverBandwagon. In June of that year the city council directed Gay Whipple to erect a 90-foot high liberty pole of native pine near thejail. When Utah Statehood was granted on Jan. 4, 1896, the liberty pole sported a new 35-foot American Flag. ' This two-ton liberty pole came crashing down during a windstorm on Oct. 3, 1906. , In 1909 this jail was demolished and the eight.room' Grammar School, which faced north on Second North, was built by Lehi contractors Charles Ohran and Andrew Fjeld at a cost of $30,000. A coal-burning heating plant for both the Primary and Grammar. Schools was built to the west of the Primary School. , Despite the additional 16 class· rnoms made available in the Primary and Grammar school buildillgs, 40 fifth-graders of the 765 students who showed up for school the first day in 1910 had to be sent home due to lack of space. Officials quickly fitted up the lOutheast room in the second story of theUtab Bank building (later Lehi Hospital) as a fifth grade classroom for Mrs_ Sydney Gilchrist. When the Lehi Elementary School was completed in 1952 both the Primary and Grammar Schools See YESTERYEARS on page 3 -- , I DEC 2 4 ?Qgf l'TAH PRESS ASSOCIA TIO:'\' Clipping Sen'ice Phon\!: (801) 328-8678 · l LElII FREE ,j" •. , . , .. ~~Yesteryears · Continued from front page • wetevaEated. As with oUiet empty · school buildings, vandals quickly · began their works of destruction. School officials warned that the · buildings had not been abandoned. "[We] want to be prepared for the future," district officials explained, "by keeping the old elementary buildings in good condition for possible future use.IWe] will need the cooperation of the citizens in this effort. Help stop this needless and · expensive destruction of property." The officials' pleas ·were largely futile. The Nov. 6, 1952, "Lehi Free Press," while announcing the dedication of the new Lehi Elementary School, noted that Police Chief · George Ricks had compiled a list of 20 juveniles responsible for breaking out virtually every window in the old school buildings as well as causing extensive damage to the interiors. Boarded up with sheets of plywood, the school buildings were never used again. A spectacular fire caused by an out-of-control rubbish burn destroyed the Grammar School building on Aug. 9, 1954. Two months later prominen t Lehi · educator Junius Banks, in an open . letter to the Alpine School Board, 'complained ofthe "abandoned" look of the old schools. "The grounds are covered with tall, dead ragweeds, and dry tree trimmings,"Banks pointed out; "the shrubs are dying from lack ofwater, the partially tumbled down and burned buildings all combine to create, right in the center of town, a most dreary prospect." Later that year Lehi brothers, Julian and George Clover were awarded an $887.75 contract toraze the Grammar School. Glen Chadwick was granted a $1,900 contract to demolish the Primary School in early 1956. By late summer all thatremainedon Block 49 to remind former students of their school days was the heating plant with its smokestack and a smalJ cement drinking fountain north of the tennis courts. This historic block was purchased by Lehi City Corporation in 1986 as part of the old Lehi Junior High parcel. Recently therecyc1ingproject has been established on the east portion of the block while the west area has been a baseball field for dpcades . Although definite plans for this site have not b3en stated, it is possible that the area become a refurbished recreational area for the town 's residents. will |
